ered to a proper depth by the municipal authorities of Bridgeton, and until this is done no appropriation is recommended. This work is in the collection district of Bridgeton, N J., which is the nearest port of entry, at which no revenue was collected during the year ending December 31, 1884. The nearest fort and light-house are, respectively, Fort Delaware and Maurice River Light. Total amount appropriated to June 30, 1885.. $36,000 36,000 Money statement. July 1, 1884, amount available.. $510 73 July 1, 18-5, amount expended during fiscal year, exclusive of outstanding liabilities July 1, 1884 510 73 Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project....... Submitted in compliance with requirements of section 2 of river and harbor acts of 1866 and 1867. 5,500 00 COMMERCIAL STATISTICS. The following information relating to the commerce of the city of Bridgeton has been kindly furnished by Mr. Robert J. Buck, president Cumberland Nail and Iron Works. FREIGHT TRANSPORTED DURING THE YEAR TO AND FROM BRIDGETON BY COHANSEY CREEK. There were four vessels built and eighty repaired during the year. 16,000 350 G 18. IMPROVEMENT OF THE NORTH BRANCH OF SUSQUEHANNA RIVER, PENNSYLVANIA. In 1880 an appropriation of $15,000 was made for the improvement of this branch of the Susquehanna River, and was followed by similar appropriations in both 1881 and 1882, making an aggregate of $45,000 for this work. The last appropriation was practically exhausted in October, 1883, since which date nothing has been done. No general project for the improvement has ever been adopted, the several appropriations having been expended under projects submitted and approved for each. The improvements made have been directed toward obtaining a narrow channel from 3 to 4 feet deep at low water through the worst obstructions. At low stages of the river there are over 12 miles of bars and shoals which are nearly dry. A gauging of the river at Wilkes-Barre, in September, 1881, gave a discharge of about 800 cubic feet per second. During the high stages of the river the water surface rises from 20 to 30 feet above the summer stage. The slope of the river is excessive and in winter heavy ice gorges are usual. The commerce of the river, except rafts, is trifling. In the two pre vious annual reports no appropriations have been recommended, and none is recommended for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1887. Total appropriations to June 30, 1885.... $45,000 45,000 Money statement. July 1, 1884, amount available.. $101 48 July 1, 1885, amount expended during fiscal year, exclusive of outstanding liabilities July 1, 1884 101 48 G 19. REMOVAL OF WRECKS FROM DELAWARE BAY AND RIVER. There have been no operations during the past fiscal year under this appropriation, excepting making an examination of the wreck of the bark Daring. The removal of all wrecks in Delaware Bay and River has been made under the title of "Removing sunken vessels or craft obstructing or endangering navigation." July 1, 1884, amount available Money statement. July 1, 18-5, amount expended during fiscal year, exclusive of outstanding liabilities July 1, 1884... July 1, 1885, amount available $2,663 09 242 12 2,420 97 G 20. REMOVING SUNKEN VESSELS OR CRAFT OBSTRUCTING OR ENDANGERING NAVIGATION. During the past fiscal year there have been removed, under the provisions of section 4, act of June 14, 1880, the wrecks of the schooner John S. Detwiler, the ship Parkfield, and the bark Daring. The schooner John S. Detwiler, registered at the port of Philadelphia with a measurement of 179.59 tons, was cut through by the ice on January 25, 1884, and sunk in 4 fathoms of water at the upper end of Cross Ledge Shoal, Delaware Bay. The vessel was loaded with 292 tons of coal, and was considered a dangerous obstruction to navigation. The vessel having been abandoned by her owners, proposals were received, under date of August 8, 1884, for the removal of the wreck and cargo. The contract therefore was awarded to the lowest bidder, Charles W. Johnston, for $2,490. The contract provided for the removal of the vessel as a whole, but when the attempt was made to do so it was found that the vessel was worm-eaten to such an extent as to prevent her bodily removal. Under date of October 9, 1884, a modified contract was made with Mr. Johnston, which provided for the vessel's being removed by parts at a cost of $1,745, which was accomplished in November, 1884. The ship Parkfield, a wooden vessel of 1,397 tons measurement, was stranded on the shoal between the inlets of Little Egg Harbor, N. J., on February 4, 1883. She was loaded with jute, linseed, and saltpeter, and her wreck was considered a dangerous obstruction to navigation. The vessel having been abandoned by her owners, proposals were received October 22, 1884, for the removal of the wreck and cargo. The contract therefor was awarded to the Atlantic and Gulf Wrecking Company, under date of October 29, 1884, for the sum of $1,840. The wreck was broken to pieces with dynamite, and its removal accomplished in December, 1881. The bark Daring, a wooden vessel of 384 tons measurement, was cut through by the ice on January 25, 1885, and sunk in 3 fathoms of water in Bombay Hook Roads, Delaware Bay. The vessel was loaded with 348 tons of bituminous coal and formed a dangerous wreck, a little to the westward of the Port Penn Range. The vessel having been abandoned by her owners, proposals were received under date of May 21, 1885, for the removal of the wreck and cargo. The contract was awarded under date of June 2, 1885, to the lowest bidder, Charles W. Johnston, for $1,935. The wreck was broken up by means of dynamite, and its removal accomplished on June 27, 1885. Abstract of proposals received and opened August 8, 1884, by Maj. W. H. Heuer, Corps of Engineers, for removal of wreck of schooner John S. Detwiler, from Delaware Bay, near Cross Ledge Shoal. Recommended for acceptance. Under this bid will remove all material sticking above average level of bottom. October 9, 1884) awarded to Charles W. Johnston. Contract (dated Abstract of proposals received and opened by Maj. W. H. Heuer, Corps of Engineers, October 22, 1884, for removal of wreck of ship Parkfield, off Little Egg Harbor Inlet, New Jersey. Contract (dated October 29, 1834) awarded to the Atlantic and Gulf Wrecking Company. Abstract of proposals for removal of wreck of the bark Daring, lying in Bombay Hook Roads, Delaware Bay, received and opened May 21, 1885, by Lieut. Col. Henry M. Robert, Corps of Engineers. Contract (dated June 2, 1885) awarded to Charles W. Johnston. G 21. UNITED STATES COMMISSION ADVISORY TO THE BOARD OF HARBOR COMMISSIONERS OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA. During the fiscal year ending June 30, 1885, there have been several meetings of the United States Commission Advisory to the Harbor Commission of Philadelphia. The vacancy caused by the detachment of Maj. W. H. Heuer, Corps of Engineers, United States Army, was filled by Lieut. Col. Henry M. Robert, Corps of Engineers, United States Army. Mr. H. L. Marindin, United States Coast Survey, was elected secretary in place of First Lieut. T. L. Casey, Corps of Engineers, United States Army, detached from duty at this place. The Commission, as now organized, is as follows: Capt. G. B. White, United States Navy, chairman; Prof. Henry Mitchell, United States Coast Survey; Lieut. Col. Henry M. Robert, United States Army; Mr. H. L. Marindin, United States Coast Survey, secretary. At the several meetings of the Commission the whole question of the proper location of port wardens' lines for the Delaware front of the city was fully discussed. It was developed that there was no chart that truly gave the positions of the wharves more recently constructed; that a survey from Five Mile Point to the upper limits of the city was neces sary before any definite conclusions could be reached as to the proper position of the wardens' lines; and that a part of the warden's lines, and the most objectionable part, had been fixed by authority of the State, and that such parts could not be changed without legislation by the State on the subject. Mr. Marindin, for the Commission, located and charted all doubtful wharves; a survey of the city front above Five Mile Point is now in progress and nearly completed; and at the last session of the State legislature a law was passed giving the city authorities power to change the lines heretofore fixed by the State. The harbor commission of the city of Philadelphia requested this Commission to prepare a chart of the Delaware city front, and to place upon it a line beyond which, in the opinion of the Advisory Commission, no wharf should be allowed to extend, pending the location of definite port wardens' lines. Such a chart, with written description, was prepared and forwarded to the harbor commission. The city councils passed a resolution requesting the board of port wardens of Philadel phia not to grant a license to build beyond this line. The port wardens have refused to grant any such licenses, and this now serves as a great protection to the harbor. The way now seems clear, and there is every reason to hope that definite lines will be established before the close of the coming fiscal year. G 22. PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION OF CORSON'S SOUND AND TOWNSEND INLET, NEW JERSEY. UNITED STATES ENGINEER OFFICE, Philadelphia, Pa., October 18, 1884. GENERAL: The river and harbor act of July 5, 1884, directed a preliminary examination of Corson's Sound and Townsend Inlet, New Jersey, with a view to their possible improvement. On September 27, in company with Mr. A. Stierle, assistant engineer, I made the examination required, and have to submit the following report: The whole New Jersey coast consists of long, narrow sand-beaches, separated from the mainland by interior bays and thoroughfares. The bays are very shallow, varying from 1 to 6 feet depth of water, and nearly all are bordered by extensive marshes. The thoroughfares are also of variable widths, the widest being perhaps about 400 feet in width; all are very crooked, but have sufficient tidal currents through them to maintain navigable depths for light-draught vessels. At every few miles the flat beach is broken by "inlets" connecting the bays, sounds, and thoroughfares with the ocean. The inlets are variable in depth as well as in position; sometimes they are entirely closed up, and again they break out somewhere near where the old inlet was. Their general tendency, however, seems to be to shift in a southerly direction. The beds and bottoms of these inlets are invariably of sand shifted about by the action of winds and seas. |